Air source heat pumps operate in a similar way to the ground source but they get their energy from the outside air. An air source heat pump works exactly the same as the fridge in your kitchen but in reverse. The back of your fridge is very warm in comparison to the cold created inside which is because heat is being pumped from the inside of the fridge out into the room. An air source heat pump heats a room just like the back of the fridge by using the energy outside. It works by transferring heat from the outside air and moving that inside the house. Even when the air outside feels far too cold for us there is actually plenty of heat which can be extracted and pumped into the home by the air source heat pump.

Ground Source Heat Pumps

A long loop of pipe, called a slinky, is filled with a heat transfer fluid and is then buried in a trench in the earth or depending on available space a borehole is sunk up to 100 metres deep into the ground. The heat transfer fluid in the pipe then absorbs heat from the ground, which is a consistent 10 degrees all year round. As the fluid passes through an electric powered heat pump, the absorbed heat is extracted, and the fluid goes back into the underground loop. The heat pump boosts the heat from the ground to the level required by the heating system